Black Thumb Be Gone!

I think this is it.  I think this is the year I'm finally going to change my thumb from black to green.  Those that know Kevin and me, know that this is the beginning of the second year living in his Grandpa's house.  Grandpa has graciously given us free range of the yard since he never goes out there or uses it at all. Last year we got settled and dreamed about digging around in the back yard. We walked around the perimeter.  We tried to pay attention to where the light falls throughout the year.  We were even surprised with a bounty of volunteer hardneck garlic! (The scapes were delicious!)

This year, we've still got those big dreams, but now we sort of have a haphazard plan to get a modest harvest and our fingers crossed to start prettying up the place a bit.

I can't lie.  I've been collecting seed packets all year long.  They tempt me so readily.  Seeds are surprisingly cheap and at the end of the season the price plummets even more.  According to the various books I've been reading, they'll still be viable for a couple more years if I store them properly. 

Ignore the prices in the corner.  Everything in this picture I got for 20 cents a pack or less at the end of last season.  Sure, some of the seeds will die, but when has anyone ever gotten every single seed from a packet to sprout?  On top of that, what home gardener could ever have use for as many plants that would grow from the hundreds of seeds that are in a single packet?  I for one don't anticipate needing 200 brussel sprout plants this season or even in my whole lifetime.

I know it's way to early to start planting veggies outside, but thanks to a lovely Christmas gift, I've got a windowsill full of herbs. 

That's Cilantro on the left.  Dill is still seeds under the plastic bag, and little bit of chives in the center.

If you're wondering why my hopes are so high, let me just say this.  That little bonsai tree second from the right almost died while Kevin and I were away on our honeymoon.  I took a pair of scissors, cut off a bunch of dead bits, watered thoroughly, and miraculously it sprang back to life!  It just needed a little attention. 

And speaking of our honeymoon, that bulb being forced on the far right was a wedding present from my Aunt and Uncle Liz and Terry.  I've never forced a bulb before and I had no idea how it was done.  I just saw a picture of a bulb at the top of a bottle in a magazine.  I found the milk bottle at a thrift store for a dollar, pulled the bulb from the crisper drawer of the fridge (I didn't have time to plant them last fall before the snow started falling), and set it at the top.  A few days later, the spike appeared!  I got so excited I might have gone a little overboard with my other seed starting.

What can I say? Cabin fever washed over me at the sight of the herbs and tulip bulb! At the top left to right is basil, curly parsley, sweet marjoram, jalapenos, and sweet peppers.  At the bottom is cosmos flowers, kohlrabi, broccoli, and cauliflower.  I've read that those last three are cool weather crops which can stand a light freeze.  With a little protection in the form of some garden cloches, I'm feeling confident that I can get those little guys out in the dirt.  Of course I'll have to start hardening them off starting today.  I hope they make it.  They're probably my three favorite vegetables.

I've also got some beefsteak and cherry tomatoes in a big clear plastic tub in another room. They might survive if I pot them up.  (Note to self: Buy potting mix.)

Oh! And I also started a garden diary.  I've been keeping track of how long it takes for each seed to germinate, the temperatures everyday (and I might even end up making a year in temperatures scarf since I'll have the data), and wrote in important dates ahead of time including the predicted first and last frost dates of the year and about when I should be able to harvest that garlic I planted last year.

I don't anticipate being able to feed us off of the little backyard garden.  Our soil isn't so good yet, nor do I have the kind of experience for that, but I know I'll have a good time getting outdoors and enjoying nature this year. If I should pluck a tomato or cut a broccoli head, so much the better.

D52 - Week 50 - Tangled

Kevyn Rider
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Aww, I'm not as interested in writing about a movie I actually like a lot! Usually I latch onto the flaws, but...I'm not sure exactly what's wrong with ...OH! I remember now. There is one thing that really bugs me about this movie. But I'll save it for the end.
Last week I talked about how "Princess & the Frog" seemed to embrace the old-and-even-older school style of Disney Princess movies. "Tangled" does a good job at retaining everything that makes those films enjoyable - such as the storytelling, vivid animation, catchy music, and engaging characters - and takes everything a step further by updating the sense of humor. Thankfully they're not updated in the annoying way (AFRO CIRCUS! BANA-NA! BANA-NANA! AFRO CIRCUS!). And the main characters equally have interesting and believable motivations and feelings. Flynn is humble enough to not come across as a complete Joey Tribbiani type, but yet cocky enough that he's not a bland Dave Seville/Prince Eric type. Rapunzel is a strong female figure and (wants to be) independent, but has perfectly understandable hesitations and doubts. Mother Gothel is a bit of a tricky one though. Has she, as a result of raising her, come to genuinely love Rapunzel after the fact of her manipulation? She may have evil motivations for keeping Rapunzel in the tower, but she's not evil to the point of beating her or starving her or depriving her of entertainment and nice things, and it's not like she has to be nice to her faux-daughter for magic reverse-aging's sake. I'm not saying any of this excuses what she's done, but it makes the idea of her character worth dissecting.When Gothel treats Rapunzel to her favorite hazelnut soup, is it really her favorite or has she just convinced her it's her favorite? If not for the kidnapping, inprisonment, lying, manipulation, and later on stabbing and such, could Mother Gothel have been the good guy? Maybe in an alternate fantasy where she doesn't steal Rapunzel away, she's just the best royal caretaker ever.
So yeah. Great music, great art and animation, great characters, great story (for one involving magic, at least), all packaged together quite nicely. So then what was it that I don't like about this movie? That one thing that bothered me enough that I drew a comic a year ago to address my complaint? Ideally my point came across well enough in it that I can just show you:

Favorite character: Max is best pony. Horse. Whatever.
Least necessary character: I didn't need old in-his-skivvies dude. I'm going with my "A character isn't funny just because he's wearing nothing but his underwear" stance here. I would've been okay with Mother Gothel having gotten the necessary information from, oh, anyone else, so that he wouldn't have to exist.
DVD Bonus: Part of what inspired this D52 project was the 50 Animated Features count-up on the Tangled DVD, which helped me realize, "wow, there really have been over 50, haven't there?" It's especially neat now to watch "the whole year" summed up in only a couple of minutes, and yet again notice how quickly the 80s come up.
Overall: If I were to nominate a best Disney Princess movie, this would quite possibly be it. It's a worthy contender with Beauty & the Beast, anyway.

As for my favorite D52 movie of all...well, we only have two left. Could there possibly be one I like even more of those two? Guess we'll just have to see, tee-hee!


Amanda Knows Best
----------------------

 Yay! Number 50!  I'm so glad that the landmark 50th film in the Disney Animated Feature line-up is such a good one.  But Kevin's right.  Taking a good movie and explaining why it's good is an awful lot harder than taking a bad one or even just a flawed one and picking it apart. 

Tangled offers an excellent opportunity to analyze what makes animation good to a layperson.  Sure, the commentary tracks are always telling you what's hard technically (Hair, Fire, Water, Hair in Water, Explosions, Fabric, that sort of thing), but what about artistically?  To my mind, it's taking an image and clearly expressing emotion and motivation.  Here, it's best demonstrated by four nearly silent characters. Max and Pascal represent the very active and cartoonish end of the spectrum and the King and Queen are the most subtle end of the line.  Both are acted brilliantly and for different reasons.  The cartoonish animals dance a tricky dance between offering nothing but comic relief with their antics, and yet when they emote sincerely, it's still easy to relate.  Contrarily the King and Queen are animated so subtly that I'd say they spend more time being nearly still than they do moving at all.  The solemn stillness of their stance is enough to express one of the most complex emotions of the entire year.  Fear of disappointment and renewed grief mixed with disbelief, relief, and joy. 

As for the rest of the film, well, I've always been a fan of the Broadway Musical and this film would fit in with the best of them.  The theatrics are staged as if it were live action, the lighting is dramatic and flourishy, and the music is as catchy as Menken has ever written.  (In fact, this is the most memorable sing-along-able in nearly a decade for my taste.)

Favorite Character:  Bruiser knits and so does Rapunzel... need I say more?
Least Necessary character:  I hate to copycat, but Cupid thug could have been pretty much anybody else.
Overall: I LIKED IT.  I really really liked it!

Surprise Harvesting!

Having recently moved into this house, a certain amount of time every week is spent trying to get the overgrown and underloved garden into shape.  Amanda has been doing her best to pay attention to where the sunlight falls, when the mystery plants bloom and where the rainwater tends to pool or drain.

Today she made a discovery!  What was originally thought to be daffodils already out of bloom had some curly bulbs stalks sticking out of the center.

Turns out those grassy stalks were garlic bulbs!  Those curly things are the scapes and were harvested today.  She'll be stirfrying them for dinner with some carrots and celery tonight and easily the most excited she's ever been about the mystery plants (even more excited than when the peony bush bloomed).

Day 364 and Memories

As we draw to a close, I found myself with lots of small scraps and with a clear idea on what type of texture and feel each bit of yarn was best. Not only that, I often had a clear memory of the original scarf. In the end I decided not to break apart the memory and the scrap but bring them together. I repeated some of the exact textures from the original scarves and I used one or two new textures as well.

I have to be honest: I didn't keep track of sizes, numbers or designs. I figured they were all a bunch of rectangles and one way or another, I would find a way to get the puzzle pieces to fit.

Day 295 and Color Correction

I love to find yarn in thrift shops. Sometimes I get lucky and find balls of yarn with the bands still on, but sometimes I buy a sweater with the intention of ripping it up and harvesting the yarn. Other times and this is much more rare, I find half finished projects. Many thrift shops that I frequent don't even put these out on the floor and the donated half thing is just sent to the bin. If I can find them, I usually snag them up and they are often much easier to take apart than a finish sweater. This one was definitely an exception.

Here's what the fabric looked like before I started messing with it.
You can't tell very well from this photo, but the yellow is ruining the whole piece. It's a bizarre neon shade that completely detracts from the three otherwise nice neutral colors. Another couple of cons for this monster: It's acrylic and it's made with many strands held together. Now, there's nothing wrong with modern acrylic. It's much softer than counterparts made decades ago and it's very machine friendly, but this one was a little older than I usually accept. As for holding many strands together, again there's nothing wrong with it, but pulling it apart is where the problem lies.

Frogging a single strand of something is no problem at all. YOu wind it into a ball or a skein as you go and you're ready to recondition and use it. If there's more than one strand though, you pretty much need as many other people helping you as there are strands in the fabric. This one had 4. I have some very generous helpful friends, but I suspect they no longer would remain so if I asked them to help me undo this ordeal. All those strands tend to braid around each other as you knit so pulling them into separate balls was darn near impossible.

Instead I figured I try to correct the color somehow. Since I can't remove strands from the beast, I'd add strands until it no longer offended my delicate constitution. One more brown and two greens later and I wasn't puking. Granted, I built some muscles handling fabric made from seven strands of yarn at the same time, but it sure is thick and warm!

Chalk this one up to my extreme pig-headedness.

Day 285 and Desperation

I happened to have this partially finished item in my stores. The original maker apparently was making a housecoat or a driving coat with this crazy thick fabric (4 strands worsted on size 15 needles-- my hands hurt just thinking about making a full sized project that way!) but for one reason or another never finished. I gathered the partially done bits at a garage sale for just a dollar and have been putting off frogging the whole thing out of plain laziness.

Well today I went to work at my normal time and after 2 hours was told to head home and get rest because I was needed for a different shift later in the day. Extremely inconveniently, I did as I was told wondering how I'd manage to finish a scarf for today when I remembered these pieces. The back panel was roughly rectangular and all I had to do was bind off. I did just that and sewed the two opposite corners together for a very snug kerchief scarf.

Day 225 and the Harvest

There's a story behind this one! It started out a blanket from a garage sale. I thought it was hideous! I truly couldn't have made something on my own that was as ugly as I thought this was. It was all kinds of 70s avocado green and orange and bleagh.

Anyway, I thought perhaps the yarns separately might yet be salvaged, so I began ripping the yarn back. Happily, the green was all connected and I ended up with two big skeins of it. At the very end, I noticed that the final strip wasn't really all that bad! A quick crab stitch around the outside edge to tidy it up a little, and I had a fun little scarf with almost no effort at all!

Day 212 and Free Wardrobe

I'm thrifty. I'm cheap. I'm frugal. No matter how you look at it, I don't much care for spending money. This scarf is a testament to the fact that sometimes you really CAN get something from nothing or at very least almost nothing.

This was made from one of those orange emergency blankets that wouldn't be of any use in an emergency because they're thin as sheets anyway. They are, however, ridiculously huge so the yardage is admirable and it's jersey so it doesn't fray or ravel.

Cut yourself a piece no shorter than 3 yards and no more slender than 16 inches.

Grab yourself a mannequin or a dress dummy or a willing friend and start tying. Be creative! Be Crazy! Be daring! Amaze yourself with what you come up with and when you've found something you like, take it apart and do it three or four more times so you'll be able to recreate it on yourself.

Granted, making a scarf bodice does take a certain kind of courage as not every woman is ready to show off her every curve and most of these bodices are on the provocative side. Go on. Take a chance. My favorite is this one and is tied as such:

Center your scarf across your abdomen. The left end should come up from behind your right shoulder and the right end should come up from behind your left shoulder so that they criss cross at the back. Tuck both ends into the portion lying across your abdomen and tighten and adjust until you feel comfortable. (This one happens to have the most coverage. Maybe that's why it's my favorite.)

Day 194 and Shorts

I'm not a hoarder!!! Though I suppose some people might worry a little bit because of how adamant I am about not throwing any scraps of yarn away. 4 yards is my cut off. If I have 4 yards of any particular yarn, I'll mostly likely keep it.

This scarf uses less than 4 yards for every single stripe. It's very similar to mixed berries, but for this scarf both ends are fringed and only one row is completed with a color. If you have a stash of scraps so small and scrappy, you're embarrassed to admit you have them, this is what you can do.

All of my scraps were worsted weight held double (4 yards) but you could use bulky (2 yards) or sport held triple (6 yards) all to the same effect and really clear out that scrap bin. If you're not a fan of letting nature take its course by choosing your colors at random, grab yourself a ruler and wrap your yarns around it. 4 rounds of each color on the width of your ruler will give a pretty decent proportional idea of your finished scarf. You'll get the benefit of planning without having to dig out colored pencils that don't even really match. Not only that, 4 wraps is so very small that you could do dozens of different color schemes without it feeling like a chore.

Size M or N hook
Yarn
Scissors

Leave a 4 to 6 inch tail and chain 7. Cut the yarn leaving a 4 to 6 inch end tail and tie off.

*For every single stripe: Make a slip knot and place it on your hook. Yarn over (use your fingers to hold it in place). Put the hook in the very first stitch and complete a double crochet stitch as normal. DC 6 more stitches, tie off.*

Repeat this instruction as many times as you'd like with as many different colors as you like until your scarf is complete. Trim the fringe even, leave them crazy, or even trim them in a zig zag or wave pattern. If your yarn is bulky, you could cut the ends quite short and they would stick out horizontally for an interesting effect.

Day 165 and Cassarole

I'm starting to wonder if that "too much of a good thing" idea was just hooey. Here I had a bunch of leftover bits of novelty yarns but they come together quite well. I had between 4 and 6 yarns being held together in basic garter stitch over 8 stitches on size 19 needles, but they always seem to look good together. The trick for this was to get all the yarns as a whole to be kind of close to the same weight. Sometimes I had to drop a mid weight yarn to pick up a bulky one. I was more inclined to use the bulky yarns because as far as leftovers tend to go, they always have the least yardage. Case in point, one of the thin railroad yarns that was a leftover made it all the way from beginning to end!

Day 160 and Tarn

I'm swimming in t-shirts. I really really am. So here's another t-shirt yarn (tarn) creation. This time I took advantage of the fact that each strip was only so long by figuring that each strip could make two rows of seven stitches. Some of the strips were longer than others, so I figured I could just let those be cut short. I opted for the nice clean stockinette stitch and because the beginning of the tarn met the end, I just tied a knot thinking that a slight fringe would be nice.

Well slight fringe ended up not catching my fancy. I placed it on the manny before trimming and thought the really long fringed bits actually looked pretty cool and instead of cutting them all even, I cut them into a wedge with the longest points at the center. They aren't all evenly wedged, but they still look pretty good to me. At the back there were only four long pieces but three were evenly spaced. I cut them such as to have the longest one in the center, two shorter ones flanking and the extra piece was cut to blend in with all the rest.

Yet another piece that I don't think I'm quite hip enough to wear. I better get cool ;)

Day 121 and The Whole Nine Yards

Maybe that's an exaggeration. But it certainly only took about 19 yards of some Lion Chenille Thick and Quick to make this collar style scarf. The key to getting the most out of your last little bits of yarn is efficiency! I've had this gauzy neckerchief for a while, but I can't remember the last time I wore it. I decided adding it to this too short bit of knitting would turn two pieces of non-functional fabric into one piece of repurposed love! Best of all, I managed to use a very very small amount of scrap yarn saving it from the bin as well as making a scarf that didn't cost a single dime and barely took a lick of time.

7 stitches wide and only about 20 inches long, this is nothing more than stockinette stitch on size 19 needles. The stitches are loose enough to thread the unloved kerchief through any stitch I so choose. For this photo, I threaded it through the center stitch at each end of the scarf and just tied a bow. I could also have woven it in and out the length of the knitting and just tucked the ends through each other for a different look.

Day 109 and Endless

So you want to make a striped cowl. What's that? All those ends to darn in have you dreading it? Well, I say "WHY BOTHER??" This was a short cowl done on straight needles. Any size needle and any size yarn would work as long as you like the way they look together and as long as you plan on cutting after every single row. I knitted or purled changing the stitch on a whim and cut after each row letting the ends hang unprotected. When I was done and had bound off, I folded the whole thing in half and each of the like ends were knotted together. It created an interesting corner and by cutting the fringe on an angle it accentuated this corner.

If you don't like purling, but still want the look, do this on a circular needle and push all the stitches around. If you're fearful of the stitches coming undone, do it in the round and tie off each end as you go. If you do it in the round you could also start your new row in a random spot so that you'd have fringey ends all around your cowl. This also makes a great inexpensive project because you can dive into your stash and each row takes very little yardage.

Day 80 and Waste Knot (See what I did there?)

I loved working with my tiny scraps so much I thought I'd make one in crochet. Something interesting that I noticed was how very different they looked. The changes in the knitted version were far more subtle and in the crochet version they became large blocks. The much taller and far fewer double crochet stitches on a size N hook made this a completely different scarf. I do feel however that the mixed colors are more apparent.

In the knit version they blurred together more, but in the crochet version every single color was distinct. In the future if ever I'm concerned about how three colors will look together, I'll grab a giant hook and make a swatch. It will become very clear, very quickly if I'll like the outcome.

Once again, scraps were as small as a meter and I used up quite a lot! The scarf is heavy, thick, and though it's becoming nicer here and I can't really test it out, there's no doubt it's quite warm.

Day 79 and Waste Not

I am not a hoarder... but I'm probably pretty darn close. I can't stand tossing all the short pieces of yarn left over after a big project. It just seems like such a waste. Well, I figured, why not use those bits? Using 3 yarns at a time and size 15 needles, I did a basic 1 x 1 rib and when 1 of the 3 yarns ran out, I just tied a knot with another bit of scrap and kept on going.

Since there are so many different colors (in fact, some of the bits are less than a meter long) The little knots happen often enough to look like they belong. For me they are a little marker that says "LOOK! This is the beginning of a new color! Enjoy the new combination!" When I first started, I was really afraid that this would be nothing but ugly, but now that it's finished, I am completely in love with it. I can't even describe how the very random color changes make me squee.

Garage Sale Heaven

A successful garage sale depends on a lot of factors! Here are some things that catch my eye and might get me to spend a few dollars at your next shindig. Many of these will remind you of the craft show post recently. It makes sense because you're trying to sell.

Get my attention!

The garage sale sign is an art form. I imagine that I could't count the number of times I drove right by a sale because I had no idea it was there. And in brown, I suggest what would have caught my eye much better.

• The tiny sale sign that you can buy at your local Mart is NO GOOD. You can't even fit your address in the little white bar at the bottom and there often isn't even an arrow to point down your street. Make your sign big. And make it yourself. You can put some design into it and make it really stand out.
  

• The big hunk of cardboard you wrote on is NO GOOD. It's the same color as the telephone pole you stapled it to. Camouflage is not something you want to do with your garage sale sign. Use something brighter or at least lighter colored. Or go the exact opposite direction with something much darker with white writing.
  

• The piece of neon printer paper is NO GOOD. Sure, it's colorful, but have you ever heard of "too long; didn't read"? Well this would be "Too small; couldn't read." Assume most people will be driving when they see your sign. A very wide Poster Sharpie will go a long way

• Leaving your lawn bare is NO GOOD. Post a sign in your yard in case someone wasn't paying close attention to the address!
  

Show me what'ya got.

Now that I'm here, let me see your wares.

• That blanket on the lawn with everything laying in the center is NO GOOD. I can't reach the things in the center without tumbling over, and I feel like a hunchback just browsing. Put your items up on tables. Garage workbenches, picnic tables, and card tables all work equally well.

• Your clothing is all in a cardboard box or worse (a trash bag!) and that is NO GOOD. I don't have the motivation to pull out every item and check the tags. Plus I have to dig through it all leaving it a mess afterward and that's even less appealing. Use your clothesline, fence, or garage door as a clothing rack. Post a sign stating all the sizes that are available and organize them.

• So how much is this? Should I make an offer? Making me wonder is NO GOOD. Post those prices! You'll always have hagglers, but many people will just hand over exactly what you ask for it. You can potentially make more than you expected!

• I was on the lookout for certain kinds of items. You had them, but I didn't see them. Having everything everywhere is NO GOOD. Organize your secondhand wares logically. Taking a little extra time to put like items together such as books with unused greeting cards and notebook paper, movies with older movie players, and toys near the kids clothing makes it easier for the buyers on a mission to spot what they were hoping for.

Tips for a JACKPOT garage sale.

Here are some clever ideas I've noticed when browsing through some jackpot garage sales I've been to.

• Masking tape is your best friend. It comes off easily, you can write a price or size directly on it, it's very inexpensive, and you probably have some already! I was at a sale recently with a bunch of different sized jeans. Each pair had a size written on a piece of masking tape right on the front pocket. 34x36, 16W, 18mo. I ended up buying 3 pairs of jeans all of which fit, and all because I could glance the size in a moment. If that doesn't sound impressive, it was the first time I've bought clothing at a garage sale in years.
  

• Save up your plastic grocery bags. My arms can only carry so much! It sure was a great way for the seller to get rid of her bags and give me more incentive to keep looking and filling that bag now that everything wasn't falling out of my arms.

• Host a group sale. Nothing gets my attention faster than the phrase "multi-family." Use that masking tape and a set of your child's many colors of marker to keep track of each family's earnings.

• Unloading can still be profitable. If someone looks interested in a handful of empty picture frames, give him a deal and get the whole lot off your hands! You'll make more by selling the lot (might not have sold each piece separately) and he's happy because of the great deal you gave him.

• Breaking a set can be profitable too. You'll find this a lot with crafters and handymen(women). I only want a single zipper/cabinet knob, but you're selling the entire box. Sometimes you can pull one or two items from a set and later on sell the rest as a lot for the original asking price anyway.
  

• Put the radio on. Ease the awkward silence of browsing for the hunters and have a more enjoyable day yourself with some great tunes!

In any case, have a great time and I can't wait to rummage through your garage sale sometime.

Garage Sale!

Garage sale, yard sale, church sale, junk sale. There are 4 levels of direct secondhand shopping in Amanda and Kevin -land.

Level 4: Not at all interested, The PEGASH

If you are the type of person to likes to settle into a neighborhood for a while, you've likely encountered the PErpetual GArage Sale House or PEGASH. Yes I just made that acronym up. I'm sticking with it. Join me!

Let's assume that normal household will have a garage sale approximately once per year and often in early spring and summer. Logical reasons to have a garage sale are as follows:

• I bought fun things at Christmas that replace older things I no longer need.
• I just did my spring cleaning and found lots of clutter that no longer interests me.
  
• I just cleaned my closet and I'm thinner/heavier and these clothes don't fit.
• The weather is mild and comfortable and I don't mind sitting on a lawn chair for 5-10 hours today with the things I gathered in the previous three bullet-points.

The PEGASH doesn't follow this logic and will use the following semi-logical reasons instead.

• I never work on Thursday, so that will be sale day from now until the end of time.
• I made this garage sale sign last time and even though it's faded and can no longer be read, I want to get my money's worth.
• None of this junky clutter sold at my last 7 garage sales, so I better try again.
• I bought this off the clearance rack at Walmart and believe I can profit by reselling it at this garage sale.
  
• There's no such thing as Goodwill or Salvation Army.

I can and do recognize the signs of my local PEGASHes and don't even bother a glance. I didn't want your baby food jars of rusted washers the last time or the time before, and I don't want them now. But at least I know you'll still be around when I do think up a good use for them.

Level 3: Slow Drive-by, The LOKI

I think the acronym for this type of garage sale is incredibly appropriate. Loki of course was the Norse God of mischief. I first heard that in the Jim Carrey movie "The Mask" and what do you know? It's true!

The signs for a LOKI sale will say:
LOTS OF ITEMS
1000s OF FINDS
CLOTHES, BOOKS, FURNITURE

I would be and am certainly curious! How many items will there be? Will I find a new paperback novel to adore? I hope they have a shelf that will fit above my toilet!

As the car makes its way slowly down Everytown Avenue, the warning lights go off one by one. The sign on the front lawn, unlike the one at the corner is decorated with streamers, glitter, and stickers. Five children of various ages are playing soccer in the front yard. The driveway is lined with large colorful plastic. Is that a stroller?

LOKI stands for "Lots Of Kids Items."
What makes this type of sale mischievous as the Norse God? The signs usually fail to include the word "kids." For a family, this is no issue of all. For a young couple with no children, we feel we've been duped. Curse you LOKI and your blanket marketing!! Why do you laugh in the face of TARGET marketing? Sorry, but I'm afraid we will drive slowly by.

Level 2: The Standard Garage Sale

This is the sale we've all come to expect, and we are happy to stop and take a look around. No witty acronym is needed. Your sign was straight forward, you've laid your items all out on a few card tables. Your prices are either reasonable or you're willing to haggle. You had a copy of both Sister Act and Sister Act 2 on VHS for a quarter each!

You realize that a garage sale is about clearing out the clutter and not about raking in the cash. Yes, the cash is a bonus, but you don't want those Hummel knock off figurines anymore. That rug was ugly when it was new. You never wore that sweater in the 80s and you wouldn't be caught dead in it now. When your sale is over, you're happy to cart the rest of it off to Goodwill.

Don't get me wrong! I have also seen some garage sales with a separate table for handmade goods such as candles, needlework, and soap! But a true garage salesman knows that if those handmade goods sell, it's a welcome bonus and not the rule. Garage sales are for bargain hunters and fun shoppers.

Level 1: JACKPOT

This is it. The Mother Load. This is the sale you have a 5 second fantasy about every time you see a garage sale sign. The fantasy in which you see something from your past that you've been searching for these past 9 years. The fantasy when you finally complete your Amber Fenton Glass in Lily of the Valley for a reasonable price! The fantasy in which you walk down a driveway and see a person of your exact dimensions and personal style with the clothing hanging on a convenient rack and in brands that you already know fit you well!

These heavenly sales do exist and if you happen to find one, the entire rest of your week will be seen through rose colored glasses. I can't give you advice on finding these sales, but if you're hosting a sale of your own, please visit this blog again! My next post will be about some of the clever garage sale tricks I've seen that made me stay and buy and search and maybe even squee a little bit.

See you next time!